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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union (Soviet Revival)
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union (USSR; Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик Советский Союз, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik Sovetsky Soyuz; CCCP, SSSR), more commonly known as Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetsky Soyuz), is the largest country in the world, located in northern Eurasia. It is a Marxist-Leninist socialist state, ruled as a single-party state by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Soviet Revival) (CPSU) since its foundation in 1922. At 22,402,200 square kilometres, Soviet Union is the absolute largest country in the world. A union of fifteen Soviet republics, with the largest republic being the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Soviet Revival) (RSFSR) at 17,075,400 square kilometres, Soviet Union is a highly developed country with the world's second largest national economy. RSFSR is the largest, most populous, most powerful and most highly economically developed Soviet republic. Soviet Union share borders with the United States of Europe (Soviet Revival) (USE) to the northwest and southwest, the People's Republic of Poland (Soviet Revival), Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Soviet Revival), the People's Republic of Hungary (Soviet Revival) and the Socialist Republic of Romania (Soviet Revival) to the west, the Islamic Republic of Iran (Soviet Revival), the Democratic Repulbic of Afghanistan (Soviet Revival), the Mongolian People's Republic (Soviet Revival), and the People's Republic of China (Soviet Revival) to the south, North Korea (Soviet Revival) to the southeast, and share maritime borders with Japan (Soviet Revival) by the Sea of Okhotsk and the United States of America (Soviet Revival) by the Bering Strait. The Soviet Union had its roots in the Russian Revolution of 1917, which deposed the imperial autocracy. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Revival), then overthrew the Russian Provisional Government (Soviet Revival). The Russian Soviet Federative Soviet Republic (Soviet Revival) was established and the Russian Civil War began. The Red Army (Soviet Revival) entered several territories of the former Russian Empire (Soviet Revival) and helped local communists seize power. In 1922, the Bolsheviks were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Soviet Revival), Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Revival), and Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Revival). Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin (Soviet Revival) came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism and initiated a centrally planned economy. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialisation and collectivisation which laid the basis for its later war effort and dominance after World War II. However, Stalin repressed both Communist Party members and elements of the population through his authoritarian rule. In the beginning of World War II, the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, initially avoiding confrontation, but the treaty was disregarded in 1941 when the Nazis invaded, opening the largest and bloodiest theatre of combat in history, the Eastern Front (World War II). Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict, in the cost to acquire the upper hand over Axis Powers forces at intense battles such as the Battle of Stalingrad, Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Kursk, eventually driving through Eastern Europe and capturing Berlin in 1945, inflicting the vast majority of German losses. Soviet occupied territory conquered from Axis forces in Central and Eastern Europe became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Revival). Ideological and political differences with Western Bloc (Soviet Revival) counterparts directed by the United States led to the forming of economic and military pacts, culminating in the prolonged Cold War (Soviet Revival). A de-Stalinization period followed Stalin's death, reducing the harshest aspects of society. The Soviet Union then went on to initiate significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including launching the first ever satellite and world's first human spaceflight, which led it into the Space Race (Soviet Revival). The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis marked a period of extreme tension between the two superpowers, considered the closest to a mutual nuclear confrontation. In the 1970s, a relaxation of relations followed, but tensions resumed with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Soviet Revival) in 1979. The occupation drained economic resources and dragged on without achieving meaningful political results. In the late 1980s the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Revival), sought to reform the Union, introducing the policies of glasnost and perestroika in an attempt to end the period of economic stagnation and democratize the government. However, this led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements. Central authorities initiated a referendum, boycotted by the Baltic republics and Georgia, which resulted in the majority of participating citizens voting in favour of preserving the Union as a renewed federation, the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union (Soviet Revival). In August 1991, a coup d'état was attempted by hardliners against Gorbachev, with the intention of reversing his policies. The coup was very succesful, and Gennady Yanayev (Soviet Revival) took over as President of the Soviet Union (Soviet Revival). Gorbachev, however, became his Vice-President of the Soviet Union (Soviet Revival). Under the leadership of Yanayev, Soviet Union underwent rapid reconstruction and economic reforms were made. In the 1990s, the Soviet economy grew rapidly not seen since the 1950s. Soviet Union became the world's second fastest-growing major economy after the People's Republic of China, and is today the world's second largest national economy surpassing the United States. In the early 21st century, a new superpower emerged on the European continent, the United States of Europe (USE), and the Soviet Union's true rival. Soviet Union is the second largest national economy in the world by both nominal GDP and GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP). even surpassing the United States. Soviet Union is very rich in energy resources, and has the world's largest reserves of oil, natural gas and coal. Soviet Union is the world's largest producer of natural gas, second largest producer of oil, and the largest producer of timber in the world. It also has the world's second largest nuclear power industry, with most of its nuclear power plants located in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and RSFSR. Soviet Union is also the world's largest industrial power, being one of the world's most industrialized nations. Also a top supplier of arms, Soviet Union has the largest defense industry in the world. Soviet Union is the world's primary recognized military superpower, having the largest armed forces in the world with the second largest nominal military budget. Soviet Union is one of the five recognized nuclear wepons states, and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the world. Soviet Union is also the only country apart from the U.S. and China with a modern strategic bomber force. Soviet Union is one of the world's three recognized superpowers, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Soviet Union is a member of the United Nations, the G8, the G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Council of Europe, the Comecon (Soviet Revival), the Eurasian Union (Soviet Revival), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and is the leading member of the Warsaw Pact (Soviet Revival).